Aubrey Buttrey

10/21/17

Sophomore Honors Studies

Faculty Interviews

Dr. Alexandra Zelin- Psychology Professor:

Dr. Alexandra Zelin grew up in a small town in North Carolina as a talented student and

swimmer. When choosing a college, she wanted to find a university where she could swim that

also had strong academics. The University of Mary Washington fit the bill, and she double

majored in Psychology and Sociology where she discovered her passions for teaching and

research.

She described herself as a curious student who always wanted answers, so research was a

way to seek answers to the burning questions she had always had. For those undergraduate

students who do not like research, she suggests that they change their perspective from viewing

research as a tedious assignment and more as a way to find out more about topics they are

interested in and answer questions they have. Although it may seem daunting at first, learning

how to design and perform a study are necessary steps to becoming comfortable with research.

The more one reads research and practices conducting studies, the easier and more exciting it

becomes.

Dr. Zelin was encouraged to go to graduate school towards the end of her undergraduate

career. Since she decided this later and did not have much time to prepare, she had lower verbal

scores on the GRE and was put on the waiting list by several schools. Three schools offered her a
spot in their program with only three weeks to make a decision; she decided on the University of

Akron.

She suggests starting sooner when applying to graduate school; giving oneself plenty of

time is crucial to making the right decision on where to go. She also said to never go to a

psychology graduate school where they do not offer to pay your tuition. Otherwise, they are most

likely not financially stable. Another important facet to consider is what the professors at the

graduate school are researching. Choosing a school based on ones own research interests is an

effective way of deciding the right program, although it is completely acceptable to go into

graduate school with an idea of what you want to research and then change your mind

completely. Deciding the school based on the most favorable location is not constructive because

she says most of her time was spent inside the school doing work. Dont count out schools

based upon their location and dont base them on their undergraduate programs. When applying,

ask where their recent graduates are because it makes a difference regarding connections and

networking, she explains.

While attending graduate school, Dr. Zelin had a brilliant, helpful advisor who moved

after her first two years. Disappointed, she searched for a new advisor and found one who

researched gender in the workplace which was more intriguing research to her anyway. She

wrote her thesis on sexism and feedback seeking in the workplace. She found that if you hold

higher levels of sexism and traditional gender roles and you have a woman supervisor who acts

stereotypically female, you are less likely to seek feedback from her because you view her as less

competent.

As a professor at UTC, Dr. Zelin spends most of her time teaching, rather than

researching. Course preparation, planning, and communicating with students and faculty take up
the largest percentage of her time. She estimates that 30% of her time is spent doing research and

10% is spent on service such as serving on committees and reviewing research for others, while

the remainder of her time is dedicated to the various responsibilities of teaching. She enjoys this

and says she is most proud of her students success; her most rewarding moments are receiving

genuine appreciation from students.

As an undergraduate student, Dr. Zelin strongly advises joining a research team.

Knowing the process and having experience writing up a research project is extremely attractive

to graduate schools. She says, You at least need to have a baseline knowledge of research

methods so that they know you are a reliable choice and they can depend on you. She suggested

going to a statistics skills camp where you learn information about research statistics for a week

in the summer.

Other general recommendations were to find internships in the fields that interested me

and to read top journals in the area I am interested in and skim the articles. One particularly

interesting idea was to like the APA Facebook site so that research will pop up on my feed.

She also said not to sign up for GRE preparation courses with large groups of students because

you do not get one on one instruction that you need. Dr. Zelin seemed very willing to share all of

this advice and to help out students in any way she could.

Professor Libby Byers: Psychology Professor

Professor Byers had children at a young age and was forced to put her education and

pursuit of a long-term career on hold. She worked at a job where she did not use her degree and

had no opportunity for advancement. After having her second child, she entered the Honors
College at Chattanooga State as a nontraditional student and pursued a psychology degree

because of her love for people. She then went on to obtain her masters degree in psychology

from UTC. After taking a psychology of teaching class and completing a teaching practicum, she

discovered her passion for teaching. Not long after she graduated, she was offered a temporary

teaching job by the head of the Psychology Department at UTC. She has now been teaching here

for almost ten years.

Professor Byers enjoys teaching because she loves sharing knowledge and helping

students answer questions. She expressed her distaste for jobs that are repetitive and mundane;

teaching offers variation from day to day, as well as year to year. She also likes to conduct

research because she gets to figure out problems and analyze statistics, although she feels that

her research has fallen by the wayside lately because of her other commitments to the university

such as being a practicum coordinator where she is constantly seeking to expand the range of

opportunities for students. She does not have a PhD currently, which she does not suggest for

future aspiring professors because it makes it extremely difficult to get a job. She believes she

acquired her job because of her very high teaching evaluations, but the job market for professors

is becoming even more competitive. However, it has worked out well for her, and she does not

believe she is a better or worse teacher because of her lack of a PhD. When I asked if she would

ever go back to school to complete a PhD, she said, I will never say never, but its not in the

plans right now. I am too rooted in Chattanooga with my family, and I would have to move away

to make that happen. I, for one, would much rather her stay!

She did not always know what she wanted to do, however. Since I am trying to figure out

my future career, I asked for suggestions for figuring this out. She recommended that the most

beneficial way of knowing whether or not you like to do something is to obtain hands on
experiences/practicums in that area. Some effective ways of doing this are to take part in a

professors research and to take advantage of the opportunities that are offered such as UTCs

PsyChi chapter and available practicums. She also advised me to take elective classes in any and

all subjects that sound I am passionate about or just sound interesting to me.

When I asked her what she wish students like myself knew at this point in our

undergraduate careers, she said students go through a metamorphosis throughout their college

experience and each step is important to who they are. Its okay for them to change their mind

several times; in fact, most students dont even have an inkling of an idea of what they will

actually end up doing until their junior year. She also wishes more nontraditional students knew

that it was possible to go back to school as an older adult and still be successful. She praised the

Educational Opportunities Center highly for its valuable assistance to nontraditional students

with figuring out how to go through the process of being admitted and feeling confident in a new

environment where they are not the norm.

I ended the interview by asking Professor Byers if she had any additional advice

specifically for me. She understands that I am a highly motivated honors student because she was

one too, so she advised me not to run myself ragged in the pursuit of my goals. She expressed

how valuable leisure time is because without it, life can become tedious and one can get burnt

out from any job. She has been able to balance her personal life with her professional life in a

way that allows her to enjoy the pleasures of life and still feel fulfilled as she strives towards her

professional goals.